2 schools alike in many ways, except college

April 21, 2006|By Tracy Dell'Angela, Tribune staff reporter

At George Washington High School, senior Ashley Sanchez has an A average and test scores that would gain her admittance to a selective university, but she doesn't think she's going to college. Her family can't afford it.

At Bogan Computer Technical High School on the Southwest Side, Brittaney Jackson is a teenage mom holding on to a B average. But she's heading to South Carolina State University this fall to study nursing, pushed hard by her school counselor.

As a University of Chicago study revealed Thursday, the chances that a Chicago public school senior will enroll in college varies dramatically from school to school--even when comparing two similar high schools such as Washington and Bogan.

Although the study by the Consortium on Chicago School Research offered a broad and dismal look at the college completion rates of city students, it also offered a breakdown on how well individual high schools did in getting seniors into college. The study compared the percentage of graduates enrolled in two- or four-year colleges.

Not surprisingly, the system's top five selective high schools--Northside College Prep, Jones College Prep, Whitney Young Magnet High School, Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences and Von Steuben Metro Science Center--sent at least 80 percent of their graduates to college. For the bottom five high schools--Kelvyn Park High School, Tilden Achievement Academy, Wells Community Academy, Orr Community Academy and Farragut Career Academy--a third or fewer of graduates enrolled in college, most of them going to two-year colleges.

The study examines the impact of grades, test scores and advanced courses in determining college-enrollment rates at individual high schools, but it doesn't explain the kind of subtle factors that help explain why Bogan sent so many more of its 2002 and 2003 graduates to college than Washington: 63 percent compared with 43 percent.

Washington Principal Juana Rivera-Vidal said she's been pushing hard to improve instruction and hiring more "nurturing" teachers with some elementary experience at her Southeast Side school. She's also added a dozen more advanced placement classes, although budget cuts forced her to cut some sections midyear.

"Part of our problem in the past is that our best-trained teachers were teaching our brightest kids," Rivera-Vidal said. She also acknowledged that too many students attending the nearby community college were paying for remedial courses they should have mastered at Washington.

One reality she can't escape is that of the 1,000 Latino students who attend Washington, an estimated 300 are undocumented residents whose families live in the U.S. illegally. They don't have Social Security numbers, which makes it nearly impossible to obtain financial aid. Guidance counselor Gabriel Fuentes said the school tried to address this for the first time by hosting a five-hour scholarship workshop for undocumented seniors.

At Bogan, counselor Venisa Green said she's working to ensure college success one student at a time. Knowing that money is a huge obstacle, she works individually with students on financial aid forms and pushes hard to secure scholarship money--Bogan students won a total of $350,000 last year. She also created a program she called Scholars in Training, offering extra attention to 20 students who might not make it out of high school, let alone to college.

One of those students was Brandon Alford, who said he lost interest in school after his dad, his grandmother and a close friend died last year. Now, he is working to bring his grades up so he can attend a music school in Florida.

"When I first got here, I felt kind of lost. Then I had a lot of trials and tribulations, and I stopped going to class," said Alford, 16.

By the numbers alone, Washington and Bogan have much in common. Both are large schools with test scores and demographics that put them in the middle of the pack. More than 80 percent of their students are low-income, and more than 90 percent are either Latino or African-American. At each school, about half of the freshmen enter at grade level in math and reading, with juniors averaging ACT scores of 16 for 2005, a little below the district average.

The report suggests that school staff members might be shortchanging students, but some students at Bogan and Washington said teachers and counselors shouldn't shoulder all the blame. A discussion with about 15 students from the two schools revealed that many think it is their responsibility to demand challenging courses and study hard.

Washington senior Maurice Williams, who is deciding between two out-of-state universities, said he's confident he can get his degree.

"I never had a teacher who all-out didn't care," Williams said. "They can push you all they can, but in the end, it's all about what you want to do."